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Hunter Inactive; Pakulak to Punt on Sunday

Punter Hunter Smith will be inactive Sunday against the Carolina Panthers because of a groin injury he suffered in the Redskins' previous game, and punter Glenn Pakulak will be signed off the practice squad, Coach Jim Zorn said after practice Friday at Redskins Park.

Smith, injured on his first punt in the 16-13 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at FedEx Field, was unable to handle punting duties during practice this week, so the coaching staff will lean on Pakulak against the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.

The Redskins must release someone from the 53-man roster to create room for Pakulak, who also will hold for place kicker Shaun Suisham, and the team plans to make those moves Saturday, Zorn said.

"He's a good player with limited experienced," special teams coordinator Danny Smith said of the left-footed punter. "We had two real windy days, but he looks like a good player."

Pakulak also held for place kickers while with the New Orleans Saints for eight games last season, Smith said.

"PFT has learned that the Washington Redskins are planning on releasing full back Mike Sellers in order to free up a roster spot for new punter, Glenn Pakulak, for this weekends game against Carolina. Sellers and Clinton Portis had recently been involved in a heated exchanged over Portis asking Coach Jim Zorn to take Sellers our of the game against Tampa Bay. Stay tuned, chances are he ends up with the Lions, as they'd have first right of refusal on a recently cut player"

Sometimes, it's an awesome sort of different that allows him to construct a missing persons narrative over the course of a season's worth of press conferences while dressed as different characters every week.

Sometimes, it's the sort of different that allows him to make enough personnel suggestions for coach Joe Gibbs to jokingly call him an assistant general manager.

But when Portis reportedly tried to get one of his teammates benched last week, it was the type of different that could have lasting repercussions.

Fullback Mike Sellers reportedly went after Portis for trying to get him benched, and Jason Reid Washington Post follows up with a report that Portis' act has worn thin with some of his teammates. NFL.com writes that Portis has long been a polarizing figure on the team.

Reid notes this act includes choosing not to practice at times and a close relationship with owner Dan Snyder. That relationship certainly didn't hurt Portis' effort to get his 2009 salary guaranteed and $4.4 million of his $7.2 million 2010 salary guaranteed. (Would another team give Portis half that money?)

Ross Tucker of Sports Illustrated (and about 6 different jobs) immediatley tweeted after our initial post that taking on Sellers was a bad move by Portis because Sellers is the "alpha male" in the Redskins locker room. The Portis situation with Sellers could threaten to divide the team.

I used to think these type of stories of locker room divides were overrated and overblown by the media; what happens on the field is all that matters.

But in book after book written about NFL teams, it's the players, not the writers, that point towards how crucial leadership schisms as the undoing of a season.

Maybe this story wouldn't resonate with Portis' teammates as much he was a different type of player on the field.

But the 2009 version of Portis is ordinary, a league average starting running back that isn't worth the money or headaches like this one.

"PFT has learned that the Washington Redskins are planning on releasing full back Mike Sellers in order to free up a roster spot for new punter, Glenn Pakulak, for this weekends game against Carolina. Sellers and Clinton Portis had recently been involved in a heated exchanged over Portis asking Coach Jim Zorn to take Sellers our of the game against Tampa Bay. Stay tuned, chances are he ends up with the Lions, as they'd have first right of refusal on a recently cut player"

cL - You are famous for stretching what I say into the outer limits. But whateves. I should have taken out that part of keeping your SJK at home in the playoffs. That seemed like your breaking point...

... If you compiled a list of your "Haters" this week, i'd rank about 154th. ...

Posted by: chrislarry | October 9, 2009 4:03 PM

There's a list? I might have been harshing this week (though it definitely felt like I was only harshing the harshers), but for me, the NFL is not the BCS. I can get on with my Sunday when the Skins win, lovely, ugly, or horrendous. Call me simple-minded (as if you don't really all do that already), but to me, it boils down to W versus L. I don't care who we play, I'd rather a 2-0 win over a 48-47 loss. [Its not possible to score only 1 point, right?]

Between the 27th ranked offense, the worst game of JC's career, the fight between Sellers and CP, the hiring of a guy who knows more about our scheme then our own coaches do yet they are quoted as "we think we know the scheme and that we're running everything right, we don't think there will be anything for him to tell us"......yeah right that's why your averaging like 13 points a game...., the sudden quiet of Blache, and Zorn apparently doesn't know about anything that is going on anywhere in the organization (I mean seriously, how does the head coach not even talk to the new consultant before he is hired, or not even know what the much publicized fight between 2/3 of his starting backfield is about?) that the storm clouds are gathering around Ashburn. If we lose badly this weekend I wouldn't be shocked if Zorn is canned on Monday, every single story is just getting worse and worse.

that's weird jack. I'm pretty close to Ashburn right now, and its nice and sunny. I see no storm clouds.

bad jokes aside, I think every single story is getting worse and worse because you're only reading the bad stories. Granted, there's a lot of negative available to focus on, but there are certainly positive things happening amongst players on the redskins as well.

I've been driving all day and haven't had a chance to read through all the comments up here. Does anyone know whether this has ever happened before in the NFL, or is this the first time that two teammates have nearly come to blows?

ksquare, such as portis recruiting cooley and campbell and hall and moss and big al to come to a charity event benefiting domestic violence. such as santana participating in a united way play60 event. such as rocky mac not being able to make portis's event because he was participating in a charity event of his own. such as the defensive scout team players coming up with goofy little weekly activities to build team unity.

ksquare, such as portis recruiting cooley and campbell and hall and moss and big al to come to a charity event benefiting domestic violence. such as santana participating in a united way play60 event. such as rocky mac not being able to make portis's event because he was participating in a charity event of his own. such as the defensive scout team players coming up with goofy little weekly activities to build team unity.

positive stuff is out there if you care to read it

Posted by: --swb | October 9, 2009 4:39 PM | Report abuse

So basically nothing to do with on the field winning....if we just wanted a bunch of nice charitable guys couldn't we just root for Acorn?

i'm gonna be sitting either in a canoe fishing this weekend, then in a deer stand, surrounded by some great foliage, its gonna be whisper quiet, I'm not going to have access to a tv, or a computer...I'm gonna enjoy the weekend, and all this stuff isn't gonna matter....

I wouldn't worry too much about Pakulak He punted for us in New Orleans the second half of last season and did well. Lots of distance, sometimes not enough hang time, but decent. He also held for kicks last year and the kicker Hartley was perfect for the year. The Saints changed punters because they drafted Thomas Morstead from SMU. This guy kicks off 7-8 yards deep everytime, and his punts are 45 yds and 6+ second hangtime. Pakulak was decent, but Morstead is great